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How Do I Check Water Pressure?

I bought a house that already has a sprinkler system installed, however it is in need of some work to get it runing well again. I believe it was originally installed in the late 70's, maybe early 80's and it has not been turned on for several years. It is a rainbird system with Hunter sprinkler heads (not sure which model, but I do know they are 4" pop-ups rotary heads in 2 zones, and pop-up sprayers in the other two zones). Rather than dig up all 18 rotary heads to clean and inspect them, I think I am going to bite the bullet and replace them all with new heads. I was leaning toward the Rainbird T-Bird heads. My question is, how do I check the water pressure at the head so I know which nozzel to use? Is there an easy way I can get this information by looking at the nozzels that are currently installed in my Hunter heads?
Also, if anyone has any tips/tricks on in-ground sprinkler systems I could use it. This is my first so I don't know a whole lot about the system yet.

Check your pressure at a point closest to where your point of connection is (where the mainline of the system connects with the house main water line, usually in the basement in northern climates). You should be able to find a guage at a home store. After that, look at the nozzle flow tables that come with your heads, use the appropriate sized nozzle, and then you have it. I also would recommend the Rainbird 5000 over the T-Bird. They are much easier to adjust, and a lot cheaper at www.sprinklerwarehouse.com !

Hey,
I recommend if your gonna use Tbird, use the 2.0 (brown) nozzle no matter what the pressure is. The only reason why i say this is it works real well with low pressure and high, and sprays the nicest out of the batch. The only problem you might have with Tbird is the seals. The Tbird isnt a comfortable rotor to work with, because they have "crappy" seals. In other words, if you dont have the right pressure then use The Hunter PGP or the Rainbird 5000 as RVLI suggested. Sprinkler warehouse is having a sale on PGP so id take advantage of that. The Rainbird Tbird heads seem to be selling less and less, although i do use them on some of my installations. I wouldnt recomend you usign them because they are hard to adjust and tend to break first.......its your decision though......if you do use them, then when they are in the ground, do not bury completly, unscrew the internals, and flush the lines VERY well, over the years you dont know whats in there. Then screw in the internals aligning the right arc with the landscape (Hunter PGP) or the Left arc (Tbird)............Its your choice, the only thing is if you have low pressure the Tbirds (Rainbird for that matter) masterd nozzle making with (Raincurtin) and Tbird spray a lot nicer. No matter what dont use the R-50, they have the same exact nozzles as Tbird, they are big, and they spin Fast!!!! reducing your distance of arc. I think with a 2.0 nozzle the R-50 does a complete circle in less than 15 seconds!!

Thank you both for your feedback! Especially for the info on the T-Bird. I think I may go with the Rainbird 5000. With that in mind, I did read the descriptions but still don't quite understand this, but what is the difference between a Rainbird 5000, and a 5000 Plus? Do I gain anything by using the 5000 plus? Also, if you had to choose between the Hunter PGP and Rainbird 5000 which would you choose and why? (Setting cost aside that is.. They are both reasonably priced even when not on sale) I want to make sure I get something I am happy with before charging my credit card!

The difference between the 5000 and the +, is that the plus has a in-head cone valve, that allows you to control the pressure of the head, even shut it off. I have a front strip of 5000+, and I love it right now because I have a new strip of grass that needs to be watered. I turn the valve on, all but one head on the valve is running just so it hits that little area of new grass. I can't disagree though, the PGP is a very awesome rotor, I think theres a little more feature to the 5000 series though. Just my opinion.

Hey,
The only difference between the 5000 and the 5000+m is the shut off valve (like the I-20) and its available in Stainless Steel version. If you want stainless steel or shut off at heads use the (i-20) The PGP is good, but so is the 5000 or 5000+, personally if i was u i would use the PGP but i know that RVLI likes the 5000. Its really up to you. I have more experience with PGP, since i started this, but its really up top you!!! Gow ith whats cheeper i guess!